Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Space exploration on the plains

Members and leaders of Louisburg Boy Scout Troop 101 visited the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson on Oct. 16-18. They are (front to back, left to right) Ryan Cottrell, Jerod Bond, Spencer Rogers, Willie Cardwell, Tristen King and Eric Aye, leader Frank Burrow, Chase Green, Tyler Burrow, T.J. Smith, Tyler DeForest, Spencer Bowman, and leader Steve King. Following their tour, the Scouts visited the area’s expansive salt mines, where they camped for the night.

Aaron CedeñoLouisburg Herald

Marisa Honomichl knows that most people probably don’t expect to find one of the world’s premier air and space museums lying in the heart of central Kansas.

But, to her mind, that just makes the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson all the more unique.

“It is a surprise, it’s a big surprise,” said Honomichl, the Cosmosphere’s vice president of marketing and development. “And it’s an escape. It’s a place where (visitors) can go and have their imagination take off for them for a day, and it’s a totally unexpected experience.”

Recently, local Boy Scout Troop 101 engaged in that experience for a weekend, with a camping expedition to Hutchinson. Leaving on Oct. 16 and returning on Oct. 18, the collection of Louisburg youth – and several parents – toured the Cosmosphere, launched model rockets, and spent the evening of Oct. 17 camping in the region’s famous underground salt mines.

1 comment:

The future of human space exploration looks bleak. After making great leaps 50 years ago, stagnation has taken over. No human has left Earth orbit in 37 years, and NASA's current unambitious goals look to be further delayed or scaled back.